A listing of all my many adventures and misadventures in this passion that has overtaken me since I was 25 years old... knitting.

Wednesday, January 22, 2003

Knitting as Sport

As a male knitter, I've decided that knitting can now be elevated from the category of craft or hobby to an official sport.

I know folks (like Wendy) who can create entire virgins with text above their heads in a matter of days.

Knitting CompetitionsLike a track and field event, Knitting should have clearly defined events:

Speed Knitting - Obvious choice, it already existsEndurance Knitting - Who can knit garter stitch continuously for the longest time without losing their mind? Tag Team Knitting - Pick up your partner's knitting and make sure your gauge matchesFiber Stash Enhancement - The competetition gets fierce at the local sale binKnitting Iron Man (is there a non-gender term for this?) - A tri-athlete event (formerly known as sheep to shawl)Concurrent WIPS - Who holds the world record for number of concurrent WIPS?Ice knitting - Graceful performance of Sock knitting with double toe-loopsSpeed Balling - The sprinting event for getting yarn from hank to swift to ball in the fastest timeBlocking/Finishing - Okay, we'll keep this one out of the competition...no one would want to participate

Training ExercisesHow would you train for these fiber events? Two-handed, stranded knitting exercisesKnitting cotton with weights attached to the ends of your needlesStandard injury avoidance stretches

Knitting ProgressSlowly moving along on the sister-sweater. I've gotten about 10 inches done...five more and I start working the front and back separately.

Devil CatHere's another picture of the spawn of satan who doesn't beg for table scraps, but will find the smallest piece of yarn and ingest it immediately (no he's not hanging from the rafters like the demon he is, he's playing under the stairs).